The Big Game is fast approaching and while I am in it for the commercials, everyone else seems more interested in the actual football. But one thing we all agree upon is the food.

1. There must be lots. And 2. There must be wings.

I love chicken wings. Buffalo, BBQ, Tandoori, Jerk, Hot, Sweet, Spicy, Sour, Baked, Fried or Grilled. There are just so many different ways to make them! One of my favorite ways though is this Crispy Sriracha Chicken Wings recipe. The wings get a nice crunch from the Panko bread crumbs and the sauce gives it a serious, sweet and spicy heat. They’ll be a sure fire win for your game day menu!

We use 3 tablespoons of Sriracha for medium heat- but sometimes we’ll go up to 5 tablespoons if we want it really, firey hot. In that case, we’ll be sure to serve them with something cool like a cucumber yogurt sauce to tame the flame! Your best bet is to start with 3 tablespoons and taste as you go along. You can always add more depending on your heat resistance!

Today, we are bringing 14 game day recipes to you via a virtual tailgating party. Check out the recipes below and be sure to visit our Game Day PinterestBoardfor even more Tasty Bites for the Big Game.

In a large saucepan, over medium high heat, add the rice wine vinegar, sugar, fish sauce, Mirin, Sake/wine, garlic, chili flakes, Sriracha and honey and bring to a rolling boil. Taste and adjust the seasonings to your likening.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5-6 minutes.

Add the cornstarch-water mixture to the pot and stir until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and let cool. Squeeze in the lime juice and mix to incorporate. Set aside until ready to use.

For the Chicken:

Create your breading station by adding the dry ingredients into one bowl and the eggs and milk into another bowl.

Dip the wings into the egg and milk bowl then into the dry ingredients. Coat to cover.

Set all the coated pieces of chicken on a large plate and let stand in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.

Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet to 350 degrees F or until a droplet of water causes it to splatter.

Add a few pieces of the chicken at a time to the hot oil being careful not to splatter yourself! Don’t overcrowd the pan. Cook the chicken until golden brown on both sides. Remove to a plate lined with a paper towel to drain. Repeat until all the chicken is cooked.

In a large bowl add the cooked chicken and drizzle some sauce over the top to coat. You may not have to use all of the sauce, so coat with as much as you would like. Give the chicken in the bowl a quick toss around in the sauce and serve with the additional sauce on the side.

If you are making them really hot, be sure to serve with a cool dip to tame the flame!

It’s near 20 degrees in NYC today and the girls and I spent the day in the city at a blogging holiday party. We had tons of fun and afterwards, we wandered up Fifth Avenue to check out the holiday windows of the large department stores. They are always so lovely! But sadly, the cold was just too much for us and we had to call it quits before we turned into ice pops.

We made our way back to Penn Station and headed home shivering the entire time!

The best cure for cold weather is serious comfort food. Knowing that we are having roast turkey and mashed potatoes later in the week, we opted for a stew instead. But I didn’t want beef. Chicken and Dumplings seemed to be the perfect next choice and it was!

My aunt, in North Carolina, made the best Chicken and Dumplings growing up. She is a real down home, Southern kind of a lady and makes everyone feel welcome the moment they arrive, sweet tea in hand. Not only was her fried chicken the best, but the homemade bacon that they cured in their smokehouse was out of this world and I have never had better. But the real treat was her Chicken & Dumplings. I remember how she rolled out her dumplings thin and cut them like pasta rather than dropping balls of dough by spoonfuls into a boiling cauldron of chicken stock. The result was a hearty stew with bite fulls of dense, dough, creamy sauce and chunks of herbed chicken. A very filling and a very comforting bowl.

I don’t have her recipe but I’ve been making them this way for years and they are reminiscent of the ones she made. I may not remember or know if they are as good as hers, but my family loves them and a 6.3 quart French Oven yielded just enough tonight that there was only one small bowl left over. But next time, I’ll have to make more dumplings- because that’s the first thing to go as everyone spoons them out of the pot and it’s good to have some leftover because the dish is always better the next day!

For the Stock. In a large pot (I used a 6.3 French Oven) over high heat, add the chicken, herbs and chopped vegetables. Add enough water to cover and submerge the chicken. Bring to a boil and lower the flame to medium-low heat and simmer for an hour and a half or until the chicken is fork tender. At this point, remove the whole chicken from the broth and set it aside to cool. Leave the broth on the low flame to continue simmering.

Once you are able to touch the chicken, go ahead and remove the meat from the bones. Set aside the meat and discard the carcass.

From the broth, remove the stems and stalks of the herbs. If you want, you can now also skim the top of the broth to remove any impurities. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For the dumplings. Remove 1½ cups of stock from the pot and set aside to cool. In a large bowl, add the self-rising flour* and the stock. With a fork or your hands, knead the liquid into the flour to form a dough. Continue kneading until all the flour is incorporated. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll the dough out with a rolling pin until it's about ¼" thick. Cut the dough into 2" squares with a knife.

Turn up the heat on the stock and once it is boiling, drop the squares of dumplings into the pot, stirring so they do not stick together.

Return the chicken pieces to the pot and stir to combine. Continue cooking for another 5-8 minutes until the dumplings are cooked through and the stock has thickened some.**

Serve in large bowls.

Notes

* Self Rising Flour- If you don't have, you can make your own. For every 1 cup of ap flour add 1½ teaspoons Baking Powder and ¼ teaspoon Salt and mix well.

** If your sauce is not as thick as you would like, in a separate bowl, make a slurry consisting of 2 teaspoons Corn Starch and a 2 tablespoons of Stock. Mix well to remove any lumps and add this mixture back to your stock which should continue boiling for another minute or so. Keep stirring to combine. Lower the flame back to a simmer and the sauce will become thicker as it continues to cook.

Today I was tasked with creating a recipe using Kerrygold Skellig, a creamy, sweet Cheddar cheese. So many options went through my mind- baked potato soup with cheese, cheddar muffins, cheddar scones, cheddar pancakes, scalloped potatoes and many more. But I wanted something that felt more seasonal- Fall. Crisp. Warm and inviting.

We had some apples left over from our picking expedition and I’ve had apple pies made with cheddar cheese in the past, so I thought about a pie. Kerrygold Skellig is decidedly sweet with a very nutty, brown butter flavor. It’s not too sharp and is very creamy. I love it alone or on crackers and thought it would be a perfect match to apples. But then I began thinking bite sized and small. Donuts were my first thought, but no. Not quite. Then I thought about Fritters! And yes, that’s exactly the perfect choice! Sort of cake-like, yet fried balls and filled with apples, spices and oozing Kerrygold Skellig Cheddar Cheese. I could eat a dozen or so of these delightful Fall inspired morsels! And the whole house smells welcoming.

Sweet Cheddar and Apple Fritters - Goes terrific with a cup of coffee for a breakfast treat

Author: Renee

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Vegetable oil for frying

1 cup all purpose flour

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp. cloves

1 egg

½ cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tbs. butter, melted

1 apple, peeled and diced

1 cup Kerrygold Skellig Sweet Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Method

In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients- flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

In a small bowl, beat the egg, milk, vanilla extract and melted butter together. Slowly add to the dry ingredients mixing well so there are few lumps.

Add the diced apple and the cheese to the batter folding both ingredients in.

In a medium pot (3Qt.) add about 2" of vegetable oil over medium heat.

With a large spoon, table or soup sized, drop dollops of the batter into the oil. Don't overcrowd the pot! Work in batches. You may have to flip the fritters over to cook all sides evenly. When golden brown remove with a slotted spoon to a plate prepared with paper towels to drain the oil.

Once cooled a bit, you could create a glaze of powdered sugar and milk to drizzle over the tops of the fritters or just roll them in fine sugar to coat.

These are great with a cup of coffee or tea. And don't keep them too close, as you may just eat them all!

3.2.1275

Look for Kerrygold Skellig Sweet Cheddar in stores near you!

Disclosure: I received Kerrygold Skellig Cheddar Cheese to create this recipe as part of a contest. I was not compensated in any way for this post but this is my entry to a contest where I can win a year’s supply of Kerrygold products and a Kitchen Kit. Fingers crossed!